


Off the Clock

by taterlovesfrogs



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Blood/Injury Descriptions, Childhood Trauma, Eventual Character Death, Explicit Language, F/M, Female Reader, Nothing way too slow though, POV Poe Dameron, Protective Poe Dameron, Sexual Tension, Slight sexual descriptions, Slow Burn, again nothing too crazy, sort of canon compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:47:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28971558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taterlovesfrogs/pseuds/taterlovesfrogs
Summary: You’re a technician, and you’ve always been a technician, but of course, like many others, you dream of flying and becoming a pilot one day. Luckily you’re friends with the best pilot in the Resistance who’s willing to spend some extra time with you to help get you trained. A little off-base race couldn’t hurt anything right?
Relationships: Karé Kun/Temmin "Snap" Wexley, Poe Dameron & Reader, Poe Dameron/Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	1. Off the Clock

**Author's Note:**

> This is pre-Poe Dameron comics! So for timeline, Poe is in the Resistance (post-navy obv.) and has been for a good amount of time, but it’s before Black Squadron was ~officially~ formed yet & they started their search for Lor San Tekka/dealing with Agent Terex. So you don’t have to have read the comics to understand anything but members of Black Squadron/characters from the comics & other Resistance members from the movies will be featured! Also this first chapter will be shorter as it's basically just the set-up of everything! Expect longer chapters in the future!

“The S-foils on a T-65B X-wing are controlled by what?”

“Obviously the servo actuators.”

“And the S-foils are used for…”

“When the S-foils are open in attack position, the starcraft has a greater spread of fire as opposed to whilst shut.” You quote the training holo you’ve committed to memory perfectly, even slightly imitating the airy voice the woman in them used.

“Yup! And can you explain the different laser cannons on an X-wing versus on an A-wing?” Poe Dameron sat back at the mess hall table, opposite of you, arms crossed at his chest and feet stretched up on the table.

“An X-wing has four Taim & Bak KX9 cannons while an A-wing adorns two Zija G0-4 cannons on a swivel mount.” _Pfft. Elementary stuff._ “Aaand the Y-wings are fitted with two forward facing KX5 cannons in case you were wondering.” With that you couldn’t help the smirk you gave your quiz-giver.

“I told you she’s got it!” Jessika Pava slammed a fist down on the table next to you in excitement, then pointing a finger towards Dameron. His hands raise in defense. “Hey, I never denied she would! I’m simply asking her to put her credits where her mouth is, show us just how much she’s learned.” The pilot leans forward, taking his feet off the table, and locking his hands together under his chin, now resting his weight on the table you all are sharing. He nods his head towards you, a sly smile on his face.

“How about the difference between an RZ-1 A-wing and an RZ-2 huh?”

You tilt your head towards Poe. He really thinks that’s the question that’ll get you? No way he believes you’re that far back in training material. You were a technician by practice and heart, of course you know this one. Plus you’d seen your fair share of scrapped RZ-1’s growing up...

You pause as if you’re thinking about the answer, but you know it immediately. You tap your finger to your chin for effect. _Okay, that might be overdoing it_. Jessika ducks her head and cracks a smile at the motion.

“Even though the RZ-1 was a classic, a great fighter, the controls were _unforgivingly_ sensitive, causing lots of inexperienced or new pilots to over-correct constantly, typically leading to a quick crash. The newer models only improved the control systems, lessening the sensitivity massively and giving them more speed and handling as well.”

“-And they’re _only_ the best ships we’ve got if you ask me!” Tallissan Lintra plops her tray of food down on the table next to you, smiling big. Tallie’s callsign was Blue Leader and she always flew her A-wing on any mission she could. Having grown up learning how to fly in her dad’s old RZ-1, your oldest friend never moved on from loving to pilot A-wings. You smile over at her. “Yeah, I guess if you’re into ships that look like they were stepped on by an AT-AT.” She huffs and rocks her shoulders into you playfully as she always did when you teased her for loving the specific ships and you share a laugh.

A single clap from Poe startles you. “You really do know it all huh? I’m impressed! Honestly, I am. I knew you’d been studying nonstop but I didn’t know how much information you could actually hang on to in that brain of yours-” He leans forward and taps a single, slow finger to the center of your forehead. “-Despite the massive size of your head.” A chorus of chuckles and ‘ooo’’s come from your friends as you smack Dameron’s finger away. “Oh look who’s talking flyboy! Or should I say self-proclaimed ‘Best Pilot in the Resistance’?” Eyes narrowing and head tilting, you notice the way his chin raises proudly almost too instantly upon hearing the words come out of your mouth. 

‘Best Pilot in the Resistance’. He wore that name like it was an actual rank given to him by some prestigious military program he graduated from. Like it was something he owned, and couldn’t be taken away from him if someone new, someone better came along. But it could. Easily you thought, once they actually let you get into a ship for longer than thirty minute training sessions. It was a form of torture, really. Up and down, down and back, shoot the stationary target while hovering above the ground, one single lap around the ruins. Youngling shit. Shit you knew you were way past. You were ready to fly for real.

“You can’t say self-proclaimed when I’m not the only one who says it _and_ it’s a straight up fact.” Poe was leaning back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest once more, and that stupid smug grin across his face. The two of you were friends but Maker, could he get on your nerves sometimes. You did have to admit that no matter how flashy that grin was though, it did have a contagious charm. It creeps it’s way over to you and you let a small laugh out. How was he so fucking charasmatic at all times? If you felt rolling your eyes would do anything to him, you would have, but for now you just settle for shaking your head at him as you so often did.

The comfortable casual conversation as your group finishes their meal is interrupted as Snap Wexley walks up to the table. “Hey gang, Commander just called a pilots meeting in fifteen, something about a new strategy for next time we run on the fuel transport mission I think.” Satisfied once everyone around you nods, he waves awkwardly to you and moves on to another table in the mess hall. You didn’t know Snap very well. He was one of Poe’s best friends but you weren’t often in situations where you two came into contact. All you knew was that he was an excellent flier, pretty close to Dameron in skill and level-headed in battle situations. It was a trait you admired and hoped to see for yourself one day.

“Well, this banter between you two has been _very_ entertaining but it seems we’ve been summoned to discuss the very exciting matter of a fuel-transport.” Jessika feigns excitement to the best of her ability. “Piloting's not all shooting down TIES and space-battles, don’t forget.” She pats a hand to your back and walks off with the whole group except Dameron, who stood up, but hadn’t left you yet.

“You better get going, I think they’ll notice their star pilot is missing.” You put air quotes around ‘star pilot’ and smile at Poe the best you can from the now empty table. He makes his way around the table and sits down next to you, back to the table and looking around the rest of the mess hall. “Hey, I joke but I’m serious. You didn’t hesitate once, you know this stuff like Leia knows the Force. Why aren’t you flying with us yet?

You huff out a scoff. “Wish I knew. Commander says I still have to go through all the basic training programs, no matter how quick I pick it up or ace the flight laps. No exceptions.” Your eyes avoid looking in Poe’s direction, keeping focus on the fork you're stabbing incessantly around your tray on the table. You’re not usually this whiny. As a self-learnt optimist, you would normally try and look on the bright side of situations and say something about how doing all these insanely boring courses can only make you a better pilot in the long run. Or how it’s just a good display of your patience and endurance to the Commander, but-  
Something about Poe Dameron being the one who was listening to you made you want to say how you really felt at the moment.  
  
“It’s just frustrating…”

“It’s a damn shame too. I’d love to see what you could really do if they let you loose in an X-wing.” He says it so honestly, like he’s not saying it just to make you feel better. There’s a moment of silence until you can see him turn towards you out of your peripherals. You can feel the way he was running his eyes over your face and you immediately stop playing with your fork. “How about this-“ His voice is low, low enough so that no one at any nearby tables could hear him. You notice the way his throat rumbles the lower he spoke, especially being this close to you. “I know the perfect course off-base. It’s out far enough that as long as we get there without anyone seeing, no one would hear the ships. It’ll be challenging enough to really show me what you’re made of and get some good actual practice in. We’ll just do a few laps and it’ll all be off the clock, no one needs to know.”

You finally turn your head to finally look at Dameron. Was he really offering this right now? This is one-hundred percent against the rules, the Commander would be furious if she ever found out you even considered this.

And yet…

“Did you say ‘we’?” A singular eyebrow raises on your forehead. 

“What’d you really think I’d let you run alone? And let you cheat your way to a better lap time than me?” He’s the one that lets out a scoff now.

A smirk inches across your face before you can stop it _and_ the hushed words that come out of your mouth. “Oh yeah? Is that a date or a challenge Dameron?” The adrenaline from just thinking about running a real course like he described was getting to your head. What the fuck were you thinking, _why_ on D’Qar did you say that. The two of you were too close together right now, too many compliments from his end, it was making your head all fucky.

“In your dreams Techie” he replies with the biggest grin you’d seen from him today. You weren’t sure if he was talking about the date or the possibility of you even standing a chance against him in a race. Either way your cheeks flushed with color. “Actually yeah-” He hesitates for only a moment, “Me crushing you in a race will be a perfect way to put a dent in that giant ego of yours. How about tomorrow morning? Meet me in the practice hangar, I’ll get everything set up and ready for us, you just bring your A-game.”

You’re about to open your mouth and ask if he’s serious when- 

“Hey Dameron! Sometime today??” Tallie calls out across the mess hall from the doorway. Both your heads whip towards the call and Poe leans back out of your bubble almost immediately. He gives her a nod and stands up. You don’t think he’s going to say anything else as he leaves towards her until he turns around halfway there.

“Oh-nine-hundred hours trainee!” He winks at you and begins walking backwards until you give him a sign of agreement. You wave him off and nod, knowing Tallie can be impatient, especially when others were waiting on them. Poe turns around once again, that big grin still plastered to his stupid face as he jogs to catch up with the other pilots, all heading out the doorway and out of sight.

The longer you sit there the more you’re convinced the next minute will be when your heart rate finally slows down. But it doesn’t, it stays thumping at this unwarranted beat you hadn’t known for a long time. A race against Poe Dameron? A race with Poe Dameron. Okay.

There’s a moment where your brain tries to convince yourself this isn’t a good idea, but it’s immediately overcrowded with the excitement of finally getting to show off your skills, especially to Dameron after all his “best pilot in the resistance” talk. You’re honestly unsure if it’s nervousness or the adrenaline that’s causing your stomach to feel the way it was right now. Slowly nodding your head to no one but yourself, you collect your things around the table and decide to turn-in to your quarters for the night. It was going to be a long night of flicking through your training holos, but whatever it was going to take to beat Dameron was well worth it.


	2. Eat My Dust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: the one in which I make shit up about flying x-wings & spaceships🤗 do not come for me pls I do not claim any of this to be correct in star wars canon or anything! also there’s a bit of POV switching in this chapter! there will be some of that throughout the fic, but I hope it’ll be clear and not confusing!
> 
> Warnings: language as per usual, flirtatious name calling, a bit o blood/injury description but nothing too bad

Honestly fuck an early morning. There were few things worse than getting up at the same time as the sun. Like, you get it, you guys were sneaking around and trying not to be seen, but it was supposed to be an off day and before yesterday, you were very much looking forward to getting that extra sleep. Sleep that you now desperately craved since you could barely get any last night. Too many thoughts and anticipations running through your head, your brain too loud to allow the peace needed to fall dead to the world.

But here you were, wandering towards the practice hangar just as Dameron requested the day before.

It was quiet on the base today. There luckily hadn’t been much going on that required the _entire_ Resistance to jump to action. Tensions were high in the galaxy though, and it constantly felt like everyone was just waiting for bad news. Waiting to hear that something big had finally happened. The New Republic had declared this to be a peaceful time, yet people everywhere could feel something. Something was coming, and it felt as if you took one wrong step, it would set it all off. The newly created First Order was hiding itself from the New Republic and the rest of the galaxy, disguised as a small military organization. But those of you at the Resistance knew better. That’s why you were there, after all. They were evil incarnate, the Empire incarnate. Born from the ashes that some of your fellow Resistance members had burned down themselves. Most of you learned about the evils of the Empire secondhand, but a handful knew what it looked like and how to spot it, and it was becoming more and more clear everyday who the First Order really was. It was just a matter of time before they showed it to the rest of the galaxy. You’d seen your own fair share of-

A _whirring_ and a loud string of beeps interrupts your thoughts as BB-8 comes rolling to your feet. “Hey little guy! What’s up?” You laugh and pat the droid's head. **_Breeepbeep!_ ** He rolls back and around your feet in circles.

“When I told him what we were doing this morning it was nothing but nervous beeps until I explained it was to help you out. His whole mood changed after that.” You look up and finally notice Poe leaning against the corridor wall, cool and casual simply dripping from his posture. His face was glued to the little droid rolling around so luckily you don’t think he notices the way your own eyes linger for a little too long across his face. You just saw him yesterday but he already had grown a fresh new layer of stubble across his jaw. _He must have skipped shaving this morning to get everything prepped for your flight_ you thought.

“I thought I told you not to let Poe know I was your favorite, hm?” You smile at the droid, stepping out of his path and walk towards Dameron, who was rolling his eyes. “Oh yeah right. There’s no way he could like you more than me, he’s _my_ little buddy.” He says the last part directly to BB-8 as he crouches down and rubs the droid affectionately.

You didn’t have an astromech yourself, you simply had no need for one yet. You knew a lot of them around base, chatted with them as they rolled around the repair bay and helped out with fixing the ships when anyone required an extra hand or four, but none of them were dedicated to you in the same way BB-8 was to Dameron. He seemed to like you well enough, and you always joked about it, but a bond like theirs really was hard to find just anywhere. There was one though, that you had recently taken a particular liking to: A mostly green droid, an R5 unit called Y5-X2. He was always quick to help, knew what he was doing on an X-wing, and you hoped that when it was time to fly with a companion, he wouldn’t mind hitching a ride with you.

“Am I going to need an astromech for today you think?” The three of you had begun walking towards the practice hangar together. “I mean, there won’t be any need for hyperspace calculations or any likely threats of damage to the ship since it’s just a couple laps right?”

Poe nods along as you talk your way through your own question. “No, you should be fine without one today, I just never fly anywhere without Beebee-ate.” That earns a cute chirp from the droid rolling behind you two. “But it’s probably better that way anyways. This’ll be an off the record flight and we don’t want to risk the droids sending anything back over to Threepio and ultimately your Commander or even Leia. She’d have my head if she found out about this.” He huffs out a small laugh but his statement makes you crack a smile. It was his idea after all, and the fact that he was willing to do this for you still hasn’t rationalized in your head. Maybe he did this for all his friends who needed training and he was just so good at keeping secrets you never knew about it? That could explain how everyone he was close with seemed to be the best pilots on base-

“Dameron?”

Almost to the hangar, you hear a voice call out from behind you all of a sudden. “Wren?” You spin around and it's Jessika, hands already covered in grease and sweat piling on her brow. It was a nickname. Well, a nickname off another nickname. When you had first come to base, Tallie had told everyone how “handy with a wrench” you were, and “Oh she can fix anything! All she needs is a pile of garbage and a wrench!”. You had always rolled your eyes at that, you couldn’t fix _anything_ , there were plenty of unfixable things you’d come across. But you came pretty close. And after all Tallie’s constant raving reviews, people actually started calling you “Wrench”. It was nice to be known as something and so you’d happily accepted. Time went on and it eventually shortened to just “Wren”, and even when you met new people on base, others introduced you as the name.

“Hey, I thought that was you guys!” She jogs to catch up with you; smile big on her face, and tools clinking at her hip. Dameron gives you a quick look, saying nothing but you understand him. Even if it was Jess, she couldn’t know what the two of you were up to. 

“So what’re you two up to this early?” Shit.

You take a deep breath to say something but nothing comes to your brain. “We uh…” Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You smile, wide-eyed, instead of finishing your sentence. 

“We’re just going for a walk.” Poe’s much quicker than you, and by the clearly fake smile he gives you when still no words come out of your mouth, he knows it. _Say something._ You could hear it from just his eyes and you swallow hard. “Y-yeah, just a walk! We both happened to be up so we just decided to walk together. Gotta love, uh- company…” It was quick and unconvincing but you hoped it would be enough to not warrant any more questions.

Jess’ eyes narrow and she looks back and forth between the two of you. After a full painful minute, she just starts to smirk, raising her chin towards Dameron. “Oookay. A walk huh? I get it, I get it. I’ll just leave you two to it then...” Jess looks at you one more time and gives you a single finger gun, then raises her eyebrows at Poe and slowly turns around and walks back towards the repair bay. You swear you hear a giggle from her but it’s so faint you convince yourself you imagined it.

Poe rubs the bridge of his nose and sighs. “Great, I’m definitely going to get an earful later…” It was a mutter meant for himself, and you weren’t sure exactly what he meant by it. Sure, you were close with some of them, but Poe and his fellow pilots were a tight knit group and you didn’t want to push anything to know all his business, so you leave it for now. “Ah, here we go! Come on, let’s get suited up and moving before we run into anyone else.” Entering the hanger, you see Poe’s X-wing is already inside, next to another. It wasn’t going to be your first time in a ship, you’d flown speeders growing up and done a good amount of practice here on base in the X-wings, but for some reason, and by the way your heart was pounding so furiously in your chest, it sure felt like it.

****

“Just follow me and stay close for now, you’ll know when we get there.”

Poe had told you along the way that this was his personal flying course he runs. “Whenever I need to clear my head after a tough day I’ll come out here and just fly. Empty all thoughts from my head, just go on instincts you know? Get it all out.” His voice crackled over the comm speaker in your ear. You all were out past the old ruins that lay just beyond base, the farthest you’d ever gone since coming to D’Qar. The planet was truly filled to the brim with beautiful sights. If it wasn’t the rolling hills the Resistance had built their barracks in, it was the tall intimidating mountains that stood in the distance, or the thick forests only visible if one flies high enough to get a good look around their surroundings. What you hadn’t seen, though, was the water. Following closely behind Poe as requested, a large, sparkling body of water suddenly came into sight. A lake maybe? Too enclosed to be an ocean, but the largest lake you’d ever seen. The early sun bounced off the surface and you had to change your flight angle to avoid being blinded, but it was beautiful. Tall trees lined most the shorelines, locking it in on all sides. 

“Alright once we get past the edge of the lake, it’s on. I’ve sent you the course so if you _happen_ to get ahead of me, you’ll be able to follow the paths from your nav system.” Right on cue, your navigation screen lights up and beeps with the incoming directions. “It’s nothing too crazy but it’s enough to throw you for a loop I think. And though I trust you and your skills-” He hesitates, “Don’t try and get fancy on me alright? I’ve seen the moves you’ve attempted to pull off in your simulations. There'll be no ‘L’ulo Stand’ attempts or anything of the sort today, save it for another idiot who decides to take you flying.” The nerves that had begun to creep up in your stomach took a breather as Poe gets you to laugh. But how did he know about that? Has he been watching your simulation playbacks? There’s no way you would have ever told him about any of your failed attempts yourself...

“You’re just saying that because you’re afraid of losing Dameron.” You flip a few switches on your dashboard, keeping an eye on every level and meter, making sure they read what they were supposed to. You were feeling cocky suddenly, it was another trait from Poe that always managed to tiptoe it’s way over to you when the two of you were together, and the smile that spread across your face felt like it couldn’t be contained by the tiny cockpit you were in.

“Oh so we’re gonna play it like that huh? Alright, but don’t come crying to me when I lap you before you can say ‘krayt dragon’.”

“What the hell is a krayt-?” Dameron’s ship blasts off before you can even process what he had said. You look down out the window and see the water that was previously below you is now gone. _The edge of the lake_. You quickly jump into action, thrusting the accelerators and booming forward, your competitions X-wing slowly coming back into sight. He had a big lead, but he got a head start, totally not fair.

****

“Not fair ‘Black Leader’.” The emphasis on his callsign in a mocking tone, comes as clear as day through Poe’s headset. He knew it was coming but it got a big chuckle out of him anyways. “Hey, I told you when we were starting, not my fault you were running that big mouth of yours instead of paying attention, ‘Trainee’.” He returns the emphasis, knowing the reply would light a fire in her.

In an immediate, wordless response, Poe only watches as she carefully places her X-wing behind Black One. A big grin spreads across his face. _She knows exactly how to catch me_ . The wind from his own ship would grab onto her own, allowing her to ride the drift and gain speed. She does just that and drops down at the last moment, propelling in front of him, snagging what he was going to make sure would be a _brief_ lead. He veers off to the side immediately, taking direction into the mountains the two were quickly approaching. There was a one-hundred percent chance she was too caught up in celebrating her momentary lead that Poe knew she wouldn’t be paying attention to the nav system as she should. One simple move and he’s in front again. He watches as she takes a wide swing and follows suit, on the correct path again.

Poe couldn’t help but laugh to himself, she was silent over the comms which told him she was probably hitting herself for such a dumb mistake. She was easy to get a read on so far, but was handling it damn well. He was taking it slightly easy on her, but it was obvious he could kick it up a notch or two. Through the mountains was when the course was going to require the more precise skills, and he was ready to see what smart plays she’d use to try and get ahead of him again.

****

“Being able to gain speed is great of course, but you also have to be able to maneuver through any unexpected territories or space junk. Shit’s going to get blown up right in front of you all the time and you can’t let yourself get caught in that.” Your whole face was so scrunched up, it was getting hard to see, but you were so kriffing mad at yourself for not paying attention you couldn’t drop it. “So watch out.”

Until he said that.

You were pouting before, and it wasn’t a great look but he knocks you out of it immediately with those three words. Why did it sound like he was smirking through the comms? Why was that so cryptic? If Dameron tries to pull any stunts and _cheat_ his way to a victory, every member of his squad would hear about it. Secret training session or not, you swear.

Just ahead, Poe’s X-wing rose up high suddenly and two four red beams shot out of his cannons—directly aimed at the mountainside in front of him. The shots loosened a large boulder followed by several small chunks of the cliffside to come tumbling down the hillside towards your ship. Poe had jetted the instant he laid the shots, ahead of the incoming danger, leaving only you to deal with it accordingly. Your heart races as your trajectory puts you straight under the falling rocks and you’re wracking your brain for a quick solution. Last minute you remember a move you’d seen someone do in a holo, but only practiced it a handful of times in the flight sim. Taking a deep breath, you put together what you hope are the precise twitches of the controls and flip some switches to divert the engine powers to perform a perfect barrel-roll out of the way, blasting forward immediately after with another few toggles of the controls.

“Take THAT space junk!” You whoop loudly through the comms, a goofy grin plastered to your face, and your heart rate keeping it’s quick pace, your veins now filled to the brim with adrenaline. “Alright I’ll admit, that was pretty smooth.” Poe was chuckling and you could hear he was genuine about it. “You’re a quick learner.”

Between your companions' praise and that perfectly-done last move, your ego was simply glowing, and your head getting bigger by the minute. Fueled by confidence and the hopes of more compliments from Poe, you start to catch him.

Diving low at the last minute coming around a bend in the valley, your X-wing overtakes Dameron’s and he’s in second place for the second time this race. Ahead, the mountains diverged into two different paths, a long plateau between them. Looking quickly at the nav screen, you see that both paths end up at the same spot, one through a tight, straight path in the valley, and the other opening up over a forest next to a wide river. You glance up and spot the entrance to the forest path on the left: a small cut in the mountain, only room for one X-wing to get through at the speed the two of you were going. Nodding to yourself, you know that you just have to keep your small lead if you want to take it. It wasn’t the path to take if you wanted to really challenge yourself (you suppose this _was_ originally supposed to be a training exercise anyways), but it wasn’t about who could fly the tougher paths, this was a race now. And you were going to win.

****

Poe knew her route was the quicker one the second he saw her pull off to take it. He hadn’t expected it actually, it wasn’t what he had highlighted for them to take on the navs. He also assumed she would choose to show off in the tight valley and try some more fancy plays, get him back for the boulder stunt he pulled back there. The small break in rocky terrain she took was only big enough for one of them to pull through when they were this neck and neck, so they were temporarily separated.

“I thought this was a training exercise, eh? Don’t be taking the easy way out on me already.”

“You’re the one playing dirty Dameron, I’m just doing whatever it takes to _win_ this thing.” He cracked a smile at that, it was too easy to rile her up, and he always enjoyed doing it.

“You got me there sweetheart. Though, just remember that even though the wider paths are more appealing, it’s almost always better to take the tighter, concealed path so enemies won’t see you coming.” A long groan comes into Poe’s ears from the comms. “Maker, you sound like the woman in the training holos. If I didn’t know any better I’d think you were actually trying to teach me something here.” She laughs lightly and he returns a scoff. “I _am_ trying to teach you something! Why else would I voluntarily get up this early, hm?”

“I’ve got my suspicions.” She was quick to respond and offered no other explanation with her comment. Poe raised his eyebrows to no one but himself and thought about if he wanted to ask what she meant. His heart rate typically remained consistent and under control while he flew, it was almost relaxing, second nature, but right now he couldn’t explain why it felt like it was beating a bit faster than usual. He opened his mouth to finally question her but her voice came quicker to his ears.

“Oh, and Dameron? I sure hope you’re getting hungry,” She trails off leaving enough room to warrant a response.

“What are you-” Poe starts, but she follows too quickly to let him figure it out on his own.

“Because you’re about to eat my d-” The comms cut out starkly.

“Wren? You waiting for me to finish that sentence for you? Because there is _no way_ I’ll smack talk for you.” He pauses, expecting her melodic laugh to sing back over the comms, or a sarcastic comment, but there’s… nothing. Poe’s eyebrows pull together in the middle of his forehead. It did kind of sound like she got cut off mid-sentence. “Wren? Hey, answer me, this isn’t funny.”

Fuck. He was getting close to the end of the divide between the two routes, between the two of them. Kicking his thrusters into full gear, he immediately reaches the convergence, his gut sinking hard when he doesn’t see any signs of her, only the river flowing quietly below him. He slams a fist into his dash and swings the X-wing wide and around, back the way she should have been flying right now. Poe perfectly shoots through the terrain, flying low and urgent, no-longer holding anything back. Looking down across his console, he suddenly freezes when he notices her ship’s signal has disappeared from the communications system. “No no no…” He mutters “Beebee-ate, run a scan for her X-wing.” The droid trills in response not a moment later and-

No signs of anything. Fuck.

His heart was racing now as he called for her over comms again, not really expecting a response at this point anymore, but not wanting to give up, and he began desperately looking across the landscape for any signs, good or bad. To his greatest dismay, it doesn’t take him long to find what he needs.

It felt like he had just been suckerpunched by a Wookie. A long plume of smoke bellowed not far off in the forest below. BB-8 shouts a series of panicked beeps. “ _Fuckfuckfuck_. I see it.” Poe dives in the direction of the forest. “Don’t be her…” He knew there was nothing else it could be though, and the closer he got, the more clear it was of what happened- Or, how it went down at least. The ship swooped low, where Poe could see a clear breach in the woods, trees laying in a “V” position, shoved to the side as something big clearly came through. Something X-wing sized.

He flies low over the treetops, following the path of carnage; trees cut in half, leaves and branches thrown and still falling recklessly. Somehow his heart sinks lower than it already was, he could have sworn it was in the pit of his stomach if he had to place it. X-wing debris, clear as it could be on the forest floor. A whole wing, by the looks of it, in pieces. He boosts his own ship and flies directly to the light smoke dancing it’s way into the sky, not a mile ahead. He hasn’t even fully landed before he’s ripping his straps and helmet off. The moment the landing gear hits, he jumps out of the ship towards the crash sight in front of him, shouting her name, his voice cracking in the middle. It’s like his feet barely touch the ground as he rushes over and begins to climb the wreckage. There are deep skid marks through the dirt leading up to it, it looks like she had spun out until the X-wing lost momentum and stopped against the giant tree the ship was leaning on. It was mostly intact, thank the Maker. The entire left wing was snapped off though, and everything was scraped with an impressive-sized dent crunched into the side.

Poe gets to the cockpit, the transparisteel canopy adorned with a long crack like lightning down the side. His eyes follow it down from the top to the middle when his focus shifts and he sees her behind it. “ _Wren!_ ” The name comes out of Poe’s mouth panicked. She’s not moving. His mind reels; Unconscious? Dead? He didn’t know. Either way, she wasn’t responding to him and there was a river of blood dripping down the curve of her forehead under her helmet. He clawed at the cockpit window, desperately trying to get it open. “Fuck this.” Blaster out of his holster in an instant, he shoots the lock mechanism and the seal hisses air out. He’s able to pull the top up and quickly reaches out for her head, cupping her cheek softly to look at her. From here, Poe could see her chest cavity slowly fill then deflate. He raises his head to the sky and curses in relief under his breath. 

The sound of the velcro on his jumpsuit ripping was all that could be heard as Poe reached for his undershirt and took it off over his head. He rips off her helmet, chucking it to the ground below them and starts tearing the shirt to dab the blood rolling down into her closed eyes then uses another piece to wrap around her head as a make-do bandage. That should stop it for now. At least the canopy’s are as thick and durable as they are, and the whole thing didn’t shatter. He shook his head as he didn’t want to think about what those consequences would have been. Poe takes a step down and carefully puts a calculated foot down on the remaining top wing. He shoves his other foot into a dent in the ship, leveraging his weight, and reaches in to undo the straps holding her into the seat. There didn’t seem to be any risk of the ship exploding but he needed her out of there as soon as he could. He throws her arms over his back and pulls with all he can but she doesn’t budge, her leg carefully caught in an impact dent on the left side.

“Dammit.” Poe mutters and BB-8 shouts in question from below. “No, buddy, she’s just stuck, wedged in there. I think if I can just push her leg forward enough I can get her out.”

A mixture of pushing and pulling, followed by consistent apologies from Poe to the unconscious woman, finally releases her from the metal clutches. The sudden weight shift almost makes Poe lose his balance as he pulls her out but he quickly reevaluates his stance and continues to lift. Carefully climbing down with her in tow, he sets her on the forest floor, supporting her head. She’s breathing still but he can tell the bleeding hasn’t quite stopped from the now-crimson soaked bandage on her head. His head swiveled as he looked around at the situation, biting his lower lip. How was he going to get her home?

The X-wing only has one seat and the specific area wasn’t familiar. His hand goes to his mouth and he unconsciously bites his fingernail. Shit. “Beebee-ate, give me our current coordinates.” The droid sends out various beeps, rolling his head to the side looking at his dad. “Right, okay.” Poe repeats the coordinates a few times under his breath. “I think I’ve got it…”

**Breeep broo?**

“Yes buddy, I am. You have to get her back, she’s injured.”

**Brrrwheo breeeet??**

“No, no, I’ll be fine. I’m- I’m gonna call someone to get me.”

**Beepbwreeeep???**

I know, I know. But it doesn’t matter what trouble I get into. We need to get her back safe. Now come on, find the route to get back home while I get her into my ship.”

Poe crouches down over her and brushes her hair from her face softly, leaning down close to her ear. “Please be okay.” He whispers before grunting as he lifts her up. It’s not as if she was super heavy, he just couldn’t help the so-called “dad noises” she always teased him about. He breathed out a laugh realizing he had done it. Strapping her in carefully, he rubs BB-8’s head and hops down again. “Take her back Beebee. And fly carefully alright?” The droid beeps in response and the X-wing powers up as Poe takes a few steps back. His ship raises and takes off with a blast, heading out over the forest top, blowing leaves and branches all around.

“Now I’ve gotta figure out who’s going to rail on me the least about this…” Poe’s hand went to his head, running his fingers through his hair, breathing out a long sigh.

There was always Jessica? But she’d probably be more mad about the wrecked X-wing than anything else. Especially after lying to her this morning.  
L’ulo? He’s the closest Poe had to family here, but he’s too old fashioned, by the book. He’d never understand or let this one go.  
No, it’s gotta be Snap. He always wakes up early and has heard Poe talk about the girl before, so he might show some sympathy. 

Poe lets out another long sigh, knowing Wexley was going to give it to him for never offering to take _him_ on speed laps when he was dying of boredom during their off days. But he would still help, Poe knew it. He wouldn’t expect Snap to cover for him or anything, he just needed a ride without being chewed into the whole way back. He was going to get plenty of that in the infirmary bay and probably thereafter by the Commander.

 _Fuck_ , it was just supposed to be a quick speed run. A playful exercise for the two of them, a chance for her to show Poe what she’s truly made of. They got carried away, he knew it. It was just too easy to do that with her.


End file.
